Hydrogen is an ideal fuel for human beings in the 21st century. With hydrogen as the fuel for vehicles, humankind can completely break away with its dependency on petroleum and eliminate damages of exhaust gases to the environment from the source. However, the cost for producing hydrogen is as high as 4 to 12 times that for gasoline. Hydrogen has to be canned in liquid state with a pressure as high as 35-70 MPa or a temperature as low as −252° C. in order to achieve the specified mileage of continuous running, which poses a grave threat to safety. Further, infrastructure construction for networked hydrogen supply involves huge investment. All of these holdback the progress of commercialization of hydrogen vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Therefore, it is generally accepted by governments and the industry of vehicles that a hybrid power electric vehicle is the most feasible solution to energy and environmental problems.
A hybrid power electric vehicle is driven jointly by an oil-fueled engine and an electric motor. The vehicle is driven first by electricity stored in a pile of batteries when running downtown and is switched to be driven by a standard oil-fueled engine when arriving on an expressway. As the original power of which comes from an oil-fueled engine, such a kind of hybrid power electric vehicle still needs to consume gasoline. However, compared to a standard oil-fueled vehicle or a purely electric vehicle, it can bring about the effects of decreasing oil consumption, reducing emission pollutants and extending continuous running hours. People have seen that a hybrid power electric vehicle is only a transitional mode, which fails to finally get rid of dependency on oil resources and uproot the harm of emissions done to the humankind. In order to achieve the final purpose of energy conservation and environmental protection, it is a relatively practical choice to resort to alcohol (hydrogen) fueled instead of oil fueled. However, key technology involved in realization of alcohol (hydrogen) fueled instead of oil fueled is the hydrogen engine, a generator of hydrogen crack-produced by heating alcohol.
The inventor of the present invention, who has been involved in long-term research and development for producing hydrogen by alcohol cracking and supplying the same, has obtained major breakthroughs and achievements in the same field and has been granted with a series of patents successively such as the patents No. CN8510947 and ZL941164320.2.
In view of the disadvantages of hybrid power electric vehicles in the world and imminent social and market economic requirements, the present invention is directed to provide a hydrogen hybrid power electric vehicle, which does not use any gasoline/diesel but uses hydrogen as the fuel for its engine for a whole journey, wherein the hydrogen is produced by directly cracking alcohol into a gas with a rich content of hydrogen (3H2+CO2). With low cost and high thermal efficiency, the hydrogen hybrid power electric vehicle according to the present invention, is of a new generation configured much more properly and pollution-free, which can be combined and matched with a hybrid power electric vehicle. The present hybrid power electric vehicle hybrids the power of a hydrogen engine and the power of an electric motor.
The present invention is achieved by a configuration as the following: A hydrogen hybrid power electric vehicle, comprises: a chassis (I), a vehicle shell, a steering wheel, wheels (IV), a brake, an engine, an electric motor (II), a battery group (III), a fuel tank, a control circuit and various kinds of control valves connected to the lines of the control circuit, characterized in that a hydrogen engine is provided therein, an outlet line of the battery group (III) is connected to a cold-starting electric heater which is in serial connection in an alcohol cracking hydrogen generator on the line of an exhaust pipe of the hydrogen engine, an exhaust outlet pipe of the hydrogen engine is connected to an alcohol cracking hydrogen generator which is further connected to a silencer end pipe through an exhaust bypass valve, a hydrogen outlet pipe of the alcohol cracking hydrogen generator is connected to a hydrogen nozzle at an inlet end of the hydrogen engine and an alcohol inlet pipe of the alcohol cracking hydrogen generator is connected to an alcohol container; wherein the alcohol cracking hydrogen generator comprises an external alcohol container, a hydrogen containing canister, the alcohol inlet pipe, hydrogen outlet pipes, control valves, a hydrogen pump, a pressure stabilizer valve and a control circuit, in which the alcohol inlet pipe has one end connected to the alcohol container and the other end connected to the inlet end of the alcohol cracking hydrogen generator, the hydrogen outlet pipe has one end connected to an outlet end of the alcohol cracking hydrogen generator and the other end connected to the hydrogen containing canister and a hydrogen pressure stabilizer valve is provided between the hydrogen outlet pipe and the hydrogen nozzle at the inlet end of the engine.
The exhaust pipe of the hydrogen engine branches off outside the alcohol cracking hydrogen generator into an exhaust inlet pipe and an exhaust bypass pipe, the exhaust bypass pipe is provided with an exhaust bypass valve, the cylinder-shape alcohol cracking hydrogen generator is provided therein with an exhaust passage joint, a silencer end pipe, an exhaust silencer hole, an exhaust silencer pip, a silencer throughole baffle, silencer pipes, silencer baffles, a reaction chamber and a vaporizer overheating chamber, in which the reaction chamber is in communication with the vaporizer overheating chamber through a communicating pipe, the reaction chamber and the vaporizer overheat chamber are provided at the bottom thereof with a cold-starting electric heater, the reaction chamber and the vaporizer overheat chamber are provided at the top thereof with a thermal control thermoelectric couple, an interface for the hydrogen outlet pipe and an interface for the alcohol inlet pipe. A flange cover of the reaction chamber is welded with the interface for the hydrogen outlet pipe, the interface for the hydrogen outlet pipe is connected to the hydrogen pump, the hydrogen containing canister, the hydrogen stabilizer valve and the hydrogen nozzle on the engine cylinder head or a mixer on a carburetor-like engine inlet pipe, the reaction chamber is provided on the top thereof with a cover in which catalyst can be filled, a screwed pipe is welded on a hole in the cover for receiving therein the thermal control thermoelectric couple, the thermal control thermoelectric couple has its line connected to a thermal control electronic meter, the bottom of the reaction chamber is filled with metal wire web and magnetic ring and the spaces inside the reactor chamber and that between outer walls of perforating array pipes are filled with alcohol cracking catalyst. The vaporizer overheating chamber is welded on the top thereof with the interface for the alcohol inlet pipe, an outer end of which is connected to the alcohol container and the alcohol inlet pipe. The vaporizer overheating chamber and the reaction chamber, which are made of copper, stainless steel or corrosion-proof cast iron material, are in the form of completely enclosed cylindrical shells with front and rear surfaces thereof evenly disposed with perforating array pipes in round comby shape. The materials used by the hydrogen engine for producing hydrogen are alcoholic material, which are mainly composed of hydrous methanol, ethanol, mixed alcohol or non-sulfuric hydrocarbon with a ratio of alcohol to water as 1:0-1.17. A return flow system composed of a bottom insertion pipe, an electromagnetic valve, an alcohol pipe for alcohol re-cracking is provided between the alcohol container and the hydrogen containing canister. A hydrogen storing dephlegmator (W) in the hydrogen containing canister contains therein hydrogen storing material, which can be selected from any of the following hydrogen storing materials such as platinum, palladium, titanium and nickel alloy, active carbon and nano-carbon fibre. The cold-starting electric heater is either of a micro-wave heater or an infrared radiation heater with a capacity of 1.5˜3 KW. The alcohol cracking hydrogen generator cracks alcohol at a temperature in the range of 200° C.-300° C.
The present invention has the following prominent advantages compared to the existing technology of hybrid power vehicles in the world:
1. 100% hydrogen (alchol) fueled instead of gasoline/diesel fueled improves greatly the efficiency of combustion in a modern engine. The electric motor's emission equals to zero when the present invention is combined with an electric motor to power a vehicle. Alcohol is a kind of regenerative energy. The final emission for alcohol to be used as the fuel is vapor.
2. 100% hydrogen fueled instead of gasoline/diesel fueled enables breaking away primarily from the dependency on oil resources. Gasoline/diesel combined with hydrogen can be applied with a substitution percentage ranging from 0-100% which can be adjusted as required in order to be adapted to the practical situation during the transitional period from the old energy to a new one. Gasoline/diesel is still available if there is no hydrogen supplying material.
3. There is developed process available for producing alcohol with low costs. Sugarcane, maize, sweet broomcorn, cassava, musty food are all inexhaustible regenerative resources for producing methanol and ethanol.
4. Using hydrogen as the fuel, a hydrogen engine has a relatively high thermal efficiency in work condition of medium and low load (one time more than that for an oil-fueled engine). Thus, a hydrogen engine expands the covering range of an optimal work condition of an overall machine so that the changeover losses of energy caused by charging and discharging the electric motor and the battery.
5. The present invention can enable the life cycle of a hybrid power vehicle to be extended from 20 years to more than 120 years.
6. The principle, technology and process of onboard producing and supplying hydrogen by catalyzing and cracking alcohol using the afterheat of exhaust gases of an engine is also applicable to a fuel cell electric vehicle.
The hydrogen producing and supplying system of the alcohol cracking hydrogen generator (1) comprises the following components: a hydrogen engine (31), an alcohol cracking hydrogen generator (1), an alcohol container (49), an alcohol pump (47), a low-pressure hydrogen pump (41), a hydrogen containing canister (53) (a hydrogen storing dephlegmator W), a control valve (57), a pressure stabilizer valve (59), a hydrogen control valve, i.e., a hydrogen nozzle (62) electromagnetic valve and a micro-computer controlled control circuit (66).
In order to prompt the catalyst bed of the alcohol cracking hydrogen generator to have its temperature to rise rapidly so as to reach the work temperature required for producing hydrogen by cracking alcohol when the engine of a vehicle is being cold started, a cold-starting electric heater (24) is provided at the bottom of the reaction chamber (16) and the vaporizer overheating chamber (26). The cold-starting electric heater (24), which can be either of a micro-wave heater or an infrared radiation heater, receives signals transmitted by a thermoelectric couple and is controlled by a micro-computer.
The vaporizer overheating chamber (26) and the reaction chamber (16), which are made of copper, stainless steel or corrosion-proof cast iron material, are in the form of completely enclosed cylindrical shells with front and rear surfaces thereof evenly disposed with perforating array pipes (17, 23) in round comby shape. The vaporizer overheating chamber (26) is in communication with the bottom of the reaction chamber (16) through a communicating pipe (25). The bottom of the reaction chamber (16) is filled with metal wire web and magnetic ring. The spaces inside the reactor chamber (16) and that between outer walls of the perforating array pipes (17) are filled with alcohol cracking catalyst.
The vaporizer overheating chamber (26) is welded on the top thereof with an interface for an alcohol inlet pipe (21), an outer end of which is connected to the alcohol inlet pipe (46) of the alcohol container (49).
The flange cover on the top of the reaction chamber is welded with an interface for the alcohol cracking gas (include rich content of hydrogen) outlet pipe (19), which is connected to the low-pressure hydrogen pump (41), the hydrogen containing canister (53), the stabilizer valve (59) and the hydrogen nozzle (62) on the engine cylinder head (or connected to a mixer on a carburetor-like engine inlet pipe, which is not shown in the figure). The reaction chamber (16) is provided on the top with a cover (20) through which a catalyst can be filled. A screwed pipe is welded on a hole in the cover (20) for receiving therein the thermoelectric couple (18). The thermoelectric couple has its line connected to a thermal control electronic meter.
In order to improve the efficiency of the generator (1) cracking alcohol, a return flow system for alcohol liquid re-cracking is provided in the alcohol cracking system to process the alcohol condensate possibly left in the hydrogen containing canister (53) which is not cracked. When the alcohol condensate reaches a certain amount, an electronic controller of the control circuit (66) commands to open the control valve (51) so that the alcohol condensate under high pressure in the hydrogen containing canister (53) returns to the low-pressure alcohol container (49) via the bottom insertion pipe (52), the control valve (51) and the alcohol pipe (50).